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Joey Butler is moving to Japan to play with the Orix Buffaloes, and I am happy for him. Osaka is a really cool city, and Brandon Dickson, who's 4-3 with an ERA of 2.47 this year, could use the run support.

I'm happy I'm happy for him, too. Because Joey Butler is a warning sign—Joey Butler is the player you become interested in when your team's farm system has nothing else for you to be excited about.

A tweener outfielder who strikes out too much with a career AAA line well above the PCL average—.304/.397/.472—is the kind of player whose Ken Phelps All-Star hum is only audible above the white noise of Juan Encarnacion swinging through a hundred curveballs.

It's John Gall, basically. And if you find yourself getting excited about John Gall, like we used to, it might be time to powercycle your general manager.